Dia 1 - Primera Classe

First hour long lesson today. Really enjoyable but tough session, Flamenco is much more difficult than I anticipated, but I have a very patient teacher, Toni, which is good.

He pointed out that the choreography I want to learn is very difficult so the first session would be going over the basics and we agreed to see how I progress over the next few weeks.

Today saw me learning the basic hand movements (twisting the hands) and testing my co-ordination through some tango and hand clapping (palma sordas - I think!). Toni explained the rhythms of different types of dances and how Flamenco works with a rhythm of 12 beats.

He explained some of the traditions with different movements for men and for women and we agreed I would learn the female moves first, then move onto the male moves, because I want to interpret this choreography similar to how Carmen Amaya performed, mixing male and female roles.

At this stage its just the basics, but its definitely the start of a journey. I can understand already how much this is about physical strength - particularly the upper body. But its also about my capacity to learn and absorb this culture and how I can relate this to my process and the themes I'm looking to challenge.

Returned to base happy and tired. 3 hour session tomorrow. Ambitious? Maybe.